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Your bone structure also degenerates, causing your eyes to sit further back in the socket and appear sunken.Īnd that’s not all. Ageing: Your skin becomes thinner and loses fat and collagen, leading the dark blood vessels beneath your skin become more visible.Dehydration: When you are dehydrated, the skin beneath your eyes begins to dull and your eyes appear sunken.Allergies: Hay fever and eczema also cause dilation of the blood vessels along with swelling and redness, which can make dark circles more prominent.This is why smoking can cause dark circles. Poor circulation: The blood vessels beneath your eyes can become dilated, making them more visible.Some families also have a family history of dark circles. Genetics: The higher the level of melanin in your skin, the more prone you may be to dark circles.As Miss Hawkes explains, the key causes of dark circles include:
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‘For this reason, eyelid skin is prone to appear darker than the rest of the face,’ she says.ĭamage to the already-delicate area can be exacerbated by certain lifestyle factors, health conditions, and family history. Where the rest of the face has a ‘subcutaneous’ layer of fat directly underneath the skin, eyelid skin doesn’t. We spoke to Miss Elizabeth Hawkes, consultant oculoplastic and ophthalmic surgeon at Cadogan Clinic Chelsea, Dr Dianni Dai, aesthetic doctor at Pulse Light Clinic, and dermatologist and medical director Dr Tatiana Lapa, about the common causes of dark circles – and share our top products for tackling them: What causes dark circles under the eyes?Įyelid skin is unique to the rest of the body, Miss Hawkes explains.
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But with so many products to choose from, which are the best eye creams for dark circles? It’s possible to reduce the appearance of eye bags by slicking a dedicated eye cream over your lids every morning and night.
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The good news? You don’t have to live with dark circles, nor do you have to fork out on expensive medical treatments. Plagued by dark circles under your eyes that no amount of make up can disguise? Eye bags are presumed to be the product of poor sleep, but while exhaustion can contribute to dark circles under your eyes, it's a little known fact that allergies, genetics and even dehydration all play a part in deepening the appearance of dark circles, with natural ageing one of the biggest culprits.
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